Bob McLeod -- S.F. photographer of news for 33 years

San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle photographer Bob McLeod died early Tuesday after a battle with lung cancer. Photo courtesy of Beth Witrogen McLeod

San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle photographer Bob McLeod died early Tuesday after a battle with lung cancer. Photo courtesy of Beth Witrogen McLeod

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San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle photographer Bob McLeod died early Tuesday after a battle with lung cancer. Photo courtesy of Beth Witrogen McLeod

San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle photographer Bob McLeod died early Tuesday after a battle with lung cancer. Photo courtesy of Beth Witrogen McLeod

Bob McLeod -- S.F. photographer of news for 33 years

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Bob McLeod, a San Francisco newspaperman for four decades and a guy with the ability to make everyone smile, died early Tuesday of lung cancer at his Antioch home. He was 59.

Mr. McLeod, who never smoked, worked as a photographer and photo editor at the San Francisco Examiner and The Chronicle until his retirement a few months ago.

He joined the Examiner in September 1967 as a copy boy, back in the days before computers or digital cameras when newspapers were printed on rumbling presses using lead type produced by clattering linotype machines.

Coming to the paper shortly after spending about a year at San Francisco State, Mr. McLeod's job was to jump when a reporter or editor shouted "Boy - COPY!" and run the freshly typed or edited story to the next person on the newsroom production line.

"The newsroom was like those Jack Webb movies, like Humphrey Bogart movies," Mr. McLeod recalled during an interview at his home last week. "The guys wore hats, like in the movies, Indiana Jones hats. They all wore white shirts and ties, but the ties were never tied, and the sleeves were rolled up. There was only one gal reporter. Everyone smoked at their desk and kept a bottle in the desk. It was grand."

Mr. McLeod's tenure as a copy boy lasted five years. All the while, he pined for a shot as a staff photographer, he said. Finally, he got his chance when the Examiner publisher at the time decided he'd rather give a new staff opening to his hardworking copy boy. McLeod recalled that getting the job was one of the best days of his life, and even decades later, considered being a "shooter" one of the best jobs in the world.

"Once I got into photo, I was home," he said.

Mr. McLeod's interest in photography began when he was growing up in Daly City. His father died when he was 12, and his older brother, George, bought him a Brownie Hawkeye camera. The boy took photos of everything, but with his dad gone and his mom a maid at the local Mission Bell Motel, they could ill afford to process all the pictures at a commercial photo lab. The youngster then built a small darkroom in a basement closet.

"I just watched that image come up on the negative paper, and it was magic," Mr. McLeod said, smiling at the memory.

As a general assignment photographer for most of his four decades, Mr. McLeod memorialized the Bay Area in events big and small.

He was the first to photograph Patty Hearst after her release from jail, and he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his images in a 1995 series called "The Caregivers." It was a project he completed with his wife, Beth Witrogen McLeod, who worked at the Examiner as a copyeditor and reporter. But Mr. McLeod's favorite photos were of ballet dancers, from budding ballerinas to megastars like Baryshnikov and Nureyev. He donated more than a thousand photographs that he took over the decades to the San Francisco Ballet archive, his wife said.

"Bob's passion for life and his big heart were reflected in the amazing quality and texture of his work," said Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein, who had also worked with McLeod at the Examiner. "His passing creates an inconsolable absence for his family, friends and colleagues. And the world of photojournalism will be less rich and interesting without him."

Mr. McLeod's biggest talent may have been his ability to get along with just about anyone. A big man with a ruddy complexion, beard and impressive silhouette, Mr. McLeod reminded some of Santa, a comparison made more apt by his perennial good cheer and good humor.

His affable, easygoing manner and his instinct for news made him a natural choice when it came time for the Examiner to name a new director of photography in 1989.

His promotion was guaranteed after his performance during the Loma Prieta earthquake, several colleagues recalled. He was serving as the interim photo editor at the time, and all his photographers were at Candlestick Park for Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's.

After the quake hit, and with no working phones in the newsroom, Mr. McLeod ran down to the company parking lot, heaved himself into one of the cars and got on a walkie-talkie to send his staff all over the Bay Area.

In addition to his wife of 25 years and his brother, Mr. McLeod is survived by his sister, Patricia Perez of South San Francisco.

A funeral will not be held. Plans for a memorial service are pending.

The family requests donations in Mr. McLeod's memory be sent to Hospice and Palliative Care of Contra Costa, 2051 Harrison St., Concord 94520.